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Find my Ned Kelly Pie recipe here: https://balearickitchen.blogspot.com/2020/04/theas-ned-kelly-pie.html

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Okonomiyaki

These Japanese kinda-pancakes are very fun, and once you’ve prepped everything, also very fast. What’s more, you get the satisfying reward of making pretty patterns with the sauces at the end. You can order all the Japanese ingredients online (try Japan Centre or Sushi Sushi in the UK). Arigato.

Serves 3-4

Ingredients

For the batter

1 cup plain flour ¼ tsp salt ¼ tsp sugar ¼ tsp baking powder ¾ cup dashi  (use 1 sachet dashi powder) 1 small cabbage head (or half and half mix of savoy and white cabbage) 1 small potato, grated 4 large eggs 100g shrimp (or pork belly if you prefer, or omit to make yours vegetarian) 1 tbsp sunflower oil

For the topping

Okonomiyaki sauce (try Japan Centre (or even Sainsbury’s), but if you can’t find it HP is an OK substitute) Kewpie mayo Katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes) Aonori (dried green seaweed) Spring onions Pickled ginger (optional)

Method

Thinly slice the cabbage, and grate the potato. 

In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Then break in your eggs, and add your dashi stock. Whisk vigorously to create the batter.

Now add your vegetables and protein to the batter: the grated potato, prawns and cabbage. Stir thoroughly to evenly distribute everything. It will seem like a big cabbage mixture: that’s good.

Now get a small-medium frying pan on a medium/high heat and and add a splash of oil. When hot, at a cup-full of the cabbage batter. Go for about 2cm in thickness for the height. Fry for 4-5 minutes, then carefully with a wide spatula flip and cook the other side for 4 more minutes. Repeat this process until you have one Okonomiyaki per person (keeping the cooked ones in the oven to retain cripness and heat).

Then, at the table, dress with Okonomiyaki sauce, Kewpie mayo, Katsuobushi, Aonori, spring onions and pickled ginger if you wish. I serve this with a green salad (dressed with sesame oil and rice vinegar) and some Japanese rice, but have it with whatever sides you like. Enjoy, and see you next time.

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Gado Gado 

This Indonesian salad is a very easy and quick midweek dinner. It has plenty of what I would refer to as 'crunchy elements’ were I on Masterchef. The sauce can be made a day or two ahead. It’s a nice one for a dinner party, because it’s easy and you can have more time with your friends. 

Serves 4

Ingredients

For the Salad

Prawn Crackers Beansprouts, 2 handfuls White cabbage, 1/4 Cauliflower, 1/4 Carrot, 1 Cucumber, 1 Tofu, 1 packet Eggs, 3 (or 1 per person) Potatoes, peeled, 2 Green beans, 2 handfuls, halved Crispy shallots, to garnish

For the Sauce

Peanut butter, 2 tbsp Juice of 1 lime 2 tbsp soy sauce 1 tbsp honey 1 tbsp fish sauce 100ml coconut milk 2 red chillies, finely chopped 1 garlic clove, crushed

Method

In a bowl, mix all the sauce ingredients together using a fork or a whisk. 

Hard boil the eggs. Meanwhile, cut the potato and cauliflower into bitesize chunks and boil until just done.

Cut the tofu into cubes and fry in a wok. Grate the carrot. Slice the cucumber and finely shred the cabbage.

Just before serving, quickly blanch the green beans and refresh in cold water. Now assemble all the ingredients in a serving dish and top with the beansprouts and crispy shallots. Heat the sauce up in a small saucepan. 

Bring the warm satay sauce to the table and dress the salad with it to serve. I like to serve the prawn crackers on the side for an extra crunch -  frying them also offers some light entertainment while you cook the meal. Enjoy.

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Christmas Special: Nut Roast

This recipe is one of my Dad’s and is his vegetarian main for Christmas Dinner or a Sunday roast. Personally I eat it in addition to meat on Christmas day and have no shame. Please swap out the nuts for any of your favourites in your version.

Ingredients 

Nut Roast:

Mushrooms, 4 Celery, 1 stick 1/3 of a courgette A small onion 1/2 a leek 1 clove garlic Rosemary/sage/woody herbs Nuts, about 150-200g (almonds, hazlenuts, walnuts all good) Breadcrumbs, 2 handfuls 1 egg Knob of butter

Cauliflower Cheese:

Half a large cauliflower (cut into florets), including its leaves 500ml milk 300g cheese, grated (Red Leicester/Cheddar/Lancashire/all three) 40g butter Nutmeg Mustard

Method

Chop all of the vegetables (except the garlic) into cubes, smaller than a pea. Sautée them in butter. Finely chop the rosemary, crush the garlic, and add both to the pan after about five minutes.

Grind up the nuts in a blender. When the vegetables are well softened, add the nuts and breadcrumbs. You want to have a ratio of about 4/1 nuts/breadcrumbs, so work out the quantities by sight.

Sautée everything together on low heat till the nuts get a bit cooked and start to smell good. Remove from the heat and allow the mixture to cool.

Crack a beaten egg into your mixture and use that to bind the ingredients together. If it feels a little wet, you can add more breadcrumbs, and if a little dry, add a bit more egg. Using your hands, form the mix into round patties/rissoles and cook on a greased tray in the oven, around 160 degrees for about 25-30 minutes. Flip the patties at the 12 minute mark to allow them to brown on both sides.

For the Cauliflower Cheese, make a roux by melting the butter and adding the flour to form a paste. Add milk slowly and stir vigorously using a wooden spoon or whisk to ensure no lumps form. Keep adding milk until you have a silky consistency. Add your grated cheeses and allow them to melt, adding a little milk to loosen the sauce. Season with a grate of nutmeg, teaspoon of mustard, a little salt and plenty of pepper. Par boil the cauliflower and the thickest of the leaves (the thin ones cook nicely just in the oven). Pour the sauce over your drained cauliflower and season with more black pepper. Cook in the oven until nicely browned on top.

Serve with roast dinner trimmings of your choice.

Merry Christmas.

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Fish Pie

I think it’s fair to say I have a reputation for being mad about pies. But when I was a kid the only meal I truly hated was Fish Pie. The idea of mixing cheesy mash, boiled egg and fish gave me the creeps. Now I am a grown up and I have evolved. The version I make has a pastry lid and mash on the side, because double carbs gets a yes from me.

Serves 4

Ingredients 500g fish (a mix of Salmon and Cod or Haddock is good, but add whichever are your favourites) 300ml double cream Juice of half a lemon Small glass of white wine 1 bulb of fennel 1 leek 500g puff pastry 50g butter 1 egg for washing 1 small bunch of dill Dijon mustard Salt and pepper

Method Reserve a teaspoon of butter for greasing the pie tin and turn your oven on to 180°c fan. Make your sauce base by finely chopping the fennel and leek and sautéeing in the rest of the butter in a heavy bottomed pot for 10 minutes on a medium heat. Add salt so that the vegetables release their juices and do not burn, and stir every couple of minutes. When the mixture looks translucent and soft, add your white wine, stirring well. Allow to simmer for 2-3 minutes while the sauce turns creamy, then add the double cream and mustard and turn the heat off.

Now prepare your fish by removing the skin and bones if there are any and chopping into 1 inch chunks. Finely chop the dill. Turn the mixture back on to a medium heat, and add both the fish and dill to the pot. Add the lemon juice, and the salt and pepper to ensure the fish is nicely seasoned and give it all a good stir. Cook for about 1 minute - you don’t want to overcook the fish here as it will continue to cook in the oven and you want the pieces to retain their shape. Remove the pan from the heat and immediately transfer into your cooler pie dish.

Now roll out your puff pastry lid (you want it, as my old driving instructor used to say, ‘about the thickness of a pound coin’). I like to reserve a little to make a pastry fish on the top, just to keep things interesting. Whisk your egg and brush the pastry so that it is evenly covered. Place the pie in your hot oven and cook for 35-40 minutes or until the pastry is golden. I like to take the pie out at the 15 minute mark to give it another go with the eggwash for an extra golden brown colour, just be careful you don’t have big lumps of eggwhite as they go squeaky - no thanks!

Serve with buttery mashed potatoes and green veg.

Song credit: I’m On the Outside (Looking In) by Little Anthony & The Imperials.

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Curry Night at Thea’s

Fancy a curry? Here are two recipes to kick off a curry night: PANEER JALFREZI, and SAAG ALOO. 

These two Northern Indian dishes take about the same time to cook, and both sauces benefit from being made well in advance. A day before you plan to eat is ideal, but if 24 hours of flavour melding is not an option for you, they work just fine made on the night. 

When throwing a curry night, I recommend aiming to have a range of textures and flavours: some drier curries, and some saucier, and choosing one or two different spices in each dish. We ate them with my EGG CURRY recipe (minus the prawns) featured here and with a lemony dahl.

PANEER JALFREZI

Serves 4-6

This recipe is very quick once you’ve made the sauce. The key thing is to use a non stick pan when frying your paneer and to not skimp on the fenugreek - a revelation!

Ingredients For the sauce 80g ghee or sunflower oil 4 garlic cloves, crushed  2 tbsp coriander seeds, coarsely pounded 6 red chillies, coarsely pounded in a mortar 2 onions, finely chopped 5cm piece fresh root ginger, finely chopped or crushed 3 green chillies, finely chopped 5 fresh ripe tomatoes, finely chopped 2 tsp salt 1 tsp ground garam masala 2 tbsp dried fenugreek leaves, crumbled

For the stir-fry 1 tbs ghee or corn oil ½ tsp crushed dried chillies 2 red or yellow peppers, deseeded and cut into strips  1 red onion, sliced 1cm thick 600g paneer, cut into 3cm batons A handful of fresh coriander leaves, chopped ½ tsp dried fenugreek leaves, crumbled Juice of 1 lemon

Method First make your sauce. Heat the oil or ghee in a pan, add the garlic and let it cook until it begins to just turn brown on the outside edges. Now add the coriander seeds and red chillies. When they release their aromas, add the onions and the teaspoons of salt, and cook until they start changing to light golden. Stir in the ginger, green chillies and tomatoes. Leave on a low heat and cook until the sauce thickens. When it is ready you should see the fat from the oil start to separate out. Add the garam masala and stir. You can set it aside at this stage for 1-2 days if needed.

When the rest of your curry night dishes are ready, you can start the paneer. Heat the ghee or oil in a wok or smiliar. Add the onion, pepper strips and crushed chillis. Stir and sauté on a high heat for one minute, then add the paneer and stir for another two minutes, until some sides are nicely goldened. Add the sauce and mix well. Once everything is heated through, check the seasoning. Finish with the fresh coriander, crumbled fenugreek leaves and lemon juice.

                                  SAAG ALOO

You can make the sauce smooth by blending it before you add the potatoes, or leave as is. You can take or leave the potatoes, as you like. 

Ingredients 4 potatoes 1 tbsp oil 2 onions, chopped 1 tsp cumin seed 1 tsp salt 2 garlic cloves, crushed 2 bags fresh spinach or 300g frozen spinach 2 medium fresh tomatoes, pureéd in blender 1 tsp chopped ginger ½ tsp turmeric powder ½ tsp red chilli powder 1 tsp salt or to your taste ½ cup yoghurt 2 tbsp of gram or corn flour ½ tomato thinly sliced ¼ cup water 1 tsp amchoor mango powder A handful of fresh coriander, chopped

Method First boil your potatoes in their skins (cut them into smaller chunks if some are larger, so that they are all an even size). Boiling them in their skins means they don’t go fluffy and break apart in the curry. When they are cooked, peel and cut into your preferred size.

Next, heat the oil up in a large pot. Add the cumin seeds and the onions and salt. Fry for a couple of minutes until the onions turn translucent, then add the garlic and ginger followed by the powdered spices. Cook until the raw aroma disappears and all starts to turn golden, and then add the puréed tomatoes. Roughly chop the spinach, and add to the pot, stirring well. Turn the heat down and allow to simmer for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, stir the flour into the yoghurt, so that it is fully incorporated - this stops the yoghurt from curdling in the sauce when it comes into contact with the heat and acidity of the tomatoes. Add the yoghurt mix to the sauce, stirring gently. To finish, add water if the sauce has become dry, followed by the amchoor and garnish with the fresh coriander.

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Pasta alla Norma

with a fennel and orange salad.

A Sicilian speciality. A warm-weather fave. Suns out aubos out.

Feeds 3-4

Ingredients

2-3 aubergines 1 bunch basil 2 x tins tomatoes 4 cloves garlic Pinch dried chilli flakes 350g packet spaghetti/other pasta of your choice 1 x tub ricotta 100g Parmesan 1-2 fennel bulbs 2 oranges Salt and pepper 1 tbsp red wine vinegar 200ml olive oil Method

Finely chop the garlic, and cook on a low-medium heat in a few tablespoons of olive oil. Add the chilli flakes, and some salt. When the garlic is soft but not brown, add your tins of tomatoes, more seasoning, a splash of red wine vinegar and a handful of chopped basil, and simmer on a low heat while you prepare the aubergine.

Slice the aubergine lengthwise to about the thickness of a pound coin, and then slice down the middle so that they are like batons. I like to cut them like this so that you can get them on your fork easy with the spaghetti, but if you prefer little cubes or round circles, Norma would want you to do it the way you please. Fry in batches in plenty of olive oil, turning so that they do not burn, but go a golden colour. It’s very important that they are cooked through, squeaky undercooked aubergine is objectionable.

Leave the aubergine to soak off on some kitchen paper, and set aside. Meanwhile, on a mandolin or with a sharp knife, finely slice the fennel whatever way you like, and thinly slice the oranges, removing this skin and pith as you go. Toss the salad and add the fennel fronds if you have them, then season with some red wine vinegar or lemon and salt and pepper, and set aside.

Finally, cook your pasta until al dente. Add the aubergine to the sauce and stir well. When cooked, drain the pasta and stir it through the sauce so that you have an even distribution of aubergine. Plate up, and serve each portion very generously with ricotta and parmesan. The ricotta can be stirred through the sauce upon eating so that it goes almost creamy. Soft pasta, crunchy salad. Bellissimo.

See you next time.

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Portuguese Tomato Rice

I had this dish for the first time this summer. It was at an amazing restaurant called O Buraco. A place where husbands and wives dined while watching game shows and football from a TV in the corner. It was home-cooked food like I’d never had before. Somehow they made even a boiled potato taste creamy and memorable. But the standout dish was this rice, served still in its hot pan. 

I like to serve it with fried or grilled fish: bass, bream, and sardines are all terrific accompaniments. The rice is dead easy, and requires none of the stirring of a risotto, so you can drink wine and prepare your fish friends while you wait. It’s nice with a simple salad of lettuce, raw onion and tomato or carrot, dressed with oil and lots of salt. Portugal taught me that simple food is usually the best, obrigada.

Serves 3-4

Ingredients: 1/4 cup olive oil 2 tbsp butter 1 1/2 brown onion, chopped 2 garlic cloves 2 cups tomatoes, peeled chopped, roughly seeded 2 cups stock (chicken or vegetable) 1 cup paella rice

Method:

Heat the olive oil and butter in a saucepan until melted. Add the roughly chopped onion, with some salt to stop them browning, and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, peel the tomatoes by scoring them and blanching in boiling water for 5 minutes. When cool enough to handle, peel, and chop into cubes, deseeding roughly as you go.

Season the tomatoes while they are on the chopping board with plenty of salt and pepper. Add the chopped garlic to the pan now. After a few minutes, add the tomatoes and cover and simmer for about 15 minutes on a low heat. 

Add the broth, and bring to a boil, then add the rice carefully, sprinkling it around the pan: you don’t want to stir the rice at all, so try to distribute it evenly at this stage.

Cover and simmer for about 20 minutes or until the rice is cooked. Finish with some melted butter all around the pan and some chopped fresh parsley.

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The Orange Dinner / Cheese & Onion Pasties

A vehicle for malt vinegar. 

Makes 4 large pasties.

Ingredients:

Pastry (to yield about 500g)

Recipe adapted from Trotski and Ash (in turn from Tessa Kiros’ Apples for Jam)

300g plain flour 1 tsp salt 200g butter, cut into cubes 1 free-range egg, lightly beaten 50ml milk 2 tsp white wine vinegar 1 free-range egg, to glaze

Filling

One medium potato One medium brown onion 200g good cheddar cheese (I used half Hafod, half Montgomery’s, but go with anything nice and sharp) 40g butter Splash of double cream/milk, optional Freshly ground black pepper and salt

Method:

First, make your pastry. Put the flour into a mixing bowl with the teaspoon of salt. Rub in the cubed butter between your thumbs and forefingers until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the eggs, milk, and the vinegar. Cut these liquid ingredients in with a small knife and then, using your hands, work the mixture until it comes together to form a dough. Shape this into a ball, flatten into a disc, and cover in cling film. Leave in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

Next, peel and chop the onion and potato, you want the pieces to be about pea-size. Melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed pan, and on a medium heat, soften the onions. You don’t want any colour on them, so keep moving them around with a wooden spoon. After a couple of minutes, add the potato to the pan. Cook for 5-10 minutes, stirring frequently. Now turn the pan off. At this point you can turn the oven on to 180’c. Add your grated cheddars to the pan, giving it a good stir. Add plenty of black pepper, you can’t have too much here, and a pinch of salt. If the mixture looks a little dry, you can add a splash of cream or milk at this point.

Now the pastry should be ready. Roll it out on a floured surface - you want it to be about 5mm thick - and divide into four square sections. Add a small ladleful to the corner of each square of pastry, then brush the edges with egg, and bring the excess over to form a triangle shape, twisting the edges together with your thumbs. Using your fingers to press the pastry together ensures you get a nice thick crust, (FUN FACT: Cornish pasties were in part invented so that miners could eat them down the mine with their dirty hands and then throw the crust away). Poke with a fork to let steam out, and glaze generously with egg - my new favourite thing is the double egg-glaze (once before cooking, once halfway through), you can’t have too much shine on the egg-glaze. Bake for about 20 minutes or until golden.

To complete your Orange Dinner, serve with baked beans and homemade chips. To make chips: peel, slice and parboil a small potato per person for 10 minutes (Marfonas are great but anything fluffy will do nicely). Drain well, and allow to steam dry for 5 minutes - this is important. Then, in hot sunflower oil, fry until golden, turning to get them crispy on all sides. Drain on kitchen towel.

Serve with the condiments of your choice, but I highly recommend Sarsons Malt Vinegar all over everything.

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Pad Thai

This is probably the quickest dinner I make. The key is prep. Pickled radish are also important, and only 75p. Whatever you do, don’t forget the lime. 

Ingredients:

200g flat rice noodles 100g bean sprouts 2 handfuls thinly sliced cabbage Bunch spring onions, thinly sliced Small bunch coriander 100g peanuts, crushed 70ml tamarind water 70ml fish sauce Juice of 1 lime 60g palm sugar Tsp chilli powder Handful of prawns 2 eggs 100g tofu 2 tbsp pickled radish 3 cloves garlic Groudnut/sunflower oil

Method:

In a wok (or paella pan) heat up the oil, and add the prawn heads/shells (if you have them). Fry off for a few minutes - this will help to flavour your oil.

Remove shells, and add your garlic and most of the spring onions to the now pink oil. Fry for 2 minutes before adding the cabbage, and turning the heat to low.

While the cabbage cooks, you can start on the noodles. Bring a pan of water to the boil, and then turn off. Add your noodles, and keep an eye on them. They should be done after 4-5 minutes.

Now make the sauce. Heat up the tamarind water, lime juice, and fish sauce together in a saucepan. When hot, add your palm sugar, mixing it to encourage it to dissolve. Add the chilli powder here.

Back at the wok, you can now add the tofu and the prawns. Turn the heat up and when the prawns are pink and the tofu has got some colour, you can add your noodles (which should now be cooked). Now crack the two eggs in the wok, scrambling once they start to cook, and tossing with the noodles and other ingredients. Lastly, add the pickled radish and bean sprouts, before pouring your sauce all over and ensuring an even distribution as best you can.

Garnish with the crushed peanuts, spring onions, and coriander. Serve with a lime wedge and Sririacha.

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Broccoli Gnocchi

This recipe is a winner; I think because its textures are as pleasing as its flavours. There is softness from the gnocchi and the sauce, and a satisfying bite from the lemony fried broccoli.

If I’m not time-poor, I’ll try to do the gnocchi from scratch. Mixing together 5 or 6 potatoes, baked in their skins, then scooped out and mashed, with a bit of flour, 2 eggs, and seasoning. Form a dough and roll into a large sausage. Split these into 6 or 7 smaller sausages, then use a butter knife to cut the gnocchi into shape. Don't add too much flour, or they’ll go really chewy.

It’s a very economical meal, as usually all that needs to be bought-in fresh is the broccoli, basil and lemon - most of the other things will be in your fridge or cupboard already. You’ll also almost certainly have enough pesto leftover to keep in the fridge for lunches. My favourite.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

2 heads broccoli or 1 head broccoli + 1 sprouting broccoli 1 bunch basil 1-2 lemons 3 cloves garlic 1 red chilli (dried or fresh) Anchovies (optional) Large handful lightly toasted pine nuts / hazelnuts Handful parmesan Olive oil Your choice of gnocchi/pasta

Method:

Cut one head of broccoli into florets and boil for about 5 minutes, then refresh in cold water. They should still retain most of their firmness but be soft enough to break up in the blender. Meanwhile chop the other head - including stalks - and fry these off in some olive oil with the anchovies, 2 of the garlic cloves, and the red chilli. Fry for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently.

Blend up the blanched broccoli now for the pesto, and add some olive oil to help the process along. Add the chopped bunch of basil, one clove of garlic, and your nuts and parmesan, with a little more olive oil, if needed, to get the right consistency. Season and add lemon juice to taste.

Now get your gnocchi or pasta on to boil in salted water. Add the juice of a lemon to the fried broccoli (in the pan still) and then put a lid on and turn off to let it steam away in those flavours for a bit.

When the gnocchi or pasta is done, mix in your pesto on a low heat and add a splash of olive oil to get it all nicely coated in the sauce. Lastly stir through the fried florets, and serve with some grated parmesan / basil leaves to garnish. (And hot sauce!!!!!)

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Prawn & Egg Curry

Like many things I cook, this recipe comes from my Dad. It’s been on the menu for at least ten years, so I think it can deservedly be called a classic.

Creamed coconut is the bees knees. It lasts forever in the fridge, and is way creamier than the tinned milk or cream. You can get a block for 80p. I beg you to pay attention to where your prawns come from, and boycott those that are the product of slave labour. North Atlantic prawns are a good option in the UK. Or you can make this curry vego by omitting them altogether. 

Serve with some paratha, I will let my hero Manjula show you the way. 

As Dad would say, god bless.

Serves 3-4

Ingredients:

300-400g prawns 3-4 eggs (1 per person) 1 large brown onion, finely sliced 3 cloves of garlic, minced Thum sized piece of ginger, grated Ground cumin, 1 tsp Ground coriander, 1 tsp 1/8th block creamed coconut, grated 3 large tomatoes, chopped 1 tbsp tomato purée Small bunch coriander, leaves and stalks

Method:

Sauté the onion, garlic and ginger in vegetable or sunflower oil until soft and translucent. Add the spices, and chopped coriander stalks. Cook for 10 minutes on a low-medium heat, stirring occassionally. Meanwhile boil your eggs for 10 minutes, then cool in cold water.

Add the chopped tomatoes and the purée as well as 1/2 cup water. Allow it all to cook for 5 minutes, then mash with a potato masher to create a smooth consistency for the curry.

Lastly, add the eggs (sliced in half), prawns, and the creamed coconut, and gently stir everything through. Season and add a little more water if necessary. Garnish with handfuls of fresh coriander. Serve.

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Broccoli & Stilton Quiche

I’m really into quiche at the moment. When I was a kid I used to ask for it for my birthday dinner, and anglicised it with chips and beans.

Broccoli - my second favourite vegetable - works a treat. Use whichever blue cheese you like, but Colston Bassett Stilton will never fail you. This dish goes well with leeks or potatoes, or a salad with a nice vinegary dressing. It is also great for picnics. Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

1 head broccoli 175 grams Stilton/Perl Las/other blue cheese 200ml double cream 100ml whole milk Salt and pepper A few sprigs thyme 3 eggs 100 grams unsalted butter, cubed 200 grams plain flour 30ml water

Method:

To make the pastry, combine the butter and flour by rubbing between your fingers until the consistency resembles breadcrumbs. Add the salt, followed by the water, and using a small knife, cut the liquid through the mixture. Bring everything together into a ball by pressing firmly. Flatten to a disc, wrap in clingfilm, and leave in the fridge for half an hour.

Roll out the pastry into a circle to fit your tart tin (I use a 27cm tin), using plenty of flour to ensure it doesn’t stick to your workbench. Fit your pastry snugly into the greased tart tin, and fill any cracks with offcuts. It doesn’t need to look pretty, it just needs to stop the filling from escaping. Cool in the freezer for 15 minutes, and pre-heat the oven to 200’c.

Bake the pastry blind for 15-20 minutes, until it’s just firm. Meanwhile, blanch your broccoli, letting it cook for about 2-3 minutes, and then running it under cold water to refresh. This is probably the most important part, because you want it to retain some bite. Now mix together the cream, milk, and eggs, and season generously with salt and pepper. Add half of your blue cheese to the cream mixture, and a few pinches of thyme leaves. Reduce the oven temperature to 180’c.

To assemble the quiche, arrange your broccoli on the pastry and pour the cream mixture on top, lastly topping with the remaining Stilton. Bake in the oven for 25-35 minutes until golden on top. Serve.

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Veg Lasagne

I started cooking this meal after moving back to London, and finding I could buy £1 bowls of aubos, peppers, and courgettes from Lewisham Market. Once, I got 8 courgettes in one of those bowls. 8! No surprises that bargainous produce prompted my initial experiment with lasagne. Happily, the experiment paid off, and Jacob enjoyed it so much he asked for it to be his birthday dinner 6 months in advance. Touched. It’s a bit of a palava, hence the lengthily recipe, but it makes both dinner and lunch, and is always, always worth it.

Feeds 4 people (or 3 greedy ones), twice.

Ingredients:

2-3 red peppers (long are nice) 2 aubergines 2 courgettes A large brown onion 3 fat cloves of garlic Oregano/marjoram/thyme A small bunch of basil 3 tbsp white wine vinegar 2-3 tins of plum tomatoes/10 fresh tomatoes 1 fresh chilli/dried chilli flakes 150-200g Mix of good strong Cheddar/Gruyere/Other hard cheese Parmesan/Grana Padano, 2 big handfuls 500ml milk 50g butter 2 tbsp plain flour Half a nutmeg, grated Breadcrumbs, 2 big handfuls 3 eggs 2 cups pasta/00’ flour

Method:

For the pasta, weigh out your flour with a pinch of salt in a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the middle, and crack the 3 eggs into it. Using a fork, scramble the eggs, and gradually bring in the flour from the sides until you have a soft dough that you can handle. When the mixture has come together, knead it for around 3 minutes until you can cut it, and find that there are no air bubbles seen inside. When the dough reaches this stage, leave it in the fridge for 30 minutes to cool.

Meanwhile, turn the oven on to 180’c. While it is heating up, prepare your veg for roasting. Slice the aubergine into rounds of about 1cm thickness, the zucchini into long slices (thickness of a pound coin), and the red pepper into wedges. Roast the veg, being careful to check them after 20 minutes, and flipping them if necessary. The zucchini and peppers will probably need taking out before the aubergine.

While your veg is roasting, you can make your sauce. Fry the onions in olive oil on a medium heat for 5 minutes, then add the garlic and chilli and let those soften for a further 5-10 minutes. Add the tomatoes, white wine vinegar and some seasoning, and then let simmer until the vegetables are done. Add a big handful of basil to the sauce, then turn off the heat.

Make a béchamel by melting the butter in a heavy-bottomed pan, whisking in the flour, and adding the milk bit by bit until you have a smooth white sauce. Grate in the cheeses (saving the parmesan), and season with nutmeg, salt and pepper. Now you can roll out the pasta. Cut the dough up into golf-ball sized pieces, and either roll out with a rolling pin or use a pasta machine. Between 6-8 pieces is good. NB: this recipe makes 2 lasagnes, or 1 enormous one. I like to do a mummy and a baby, so we can all eat it for dinner and then take it for lunch the next day. 

Nearly there: now layering up. Start with the roast veggies, then cover with tomato sauce, then a sheet of pasta, then béchamel. Repeat two more times, until you have 3 layers of everything. Repeat for the second lasagne. Lastly top both final béchamel layers with the breadcrumbs and parmesan. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes, or until golden. Serve.

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Aubergine Curry (Wambatu in Tamarind) Here is a dish featuring my favourite vegetable. After many lunch-time visits to the Cinnamons canteen in Melbourne’s CBD, I wanted to try and figure out how to make Sri Lankan aubergine curry. After some research, this is what I got. It’s nothing like theirs, but once I’d made it, I couldn’t stop. Tangy doesn’t quite do it justice. As is the theme with things I cook, this dish is extremely light on the wallet, once you’ve got the tamarind and spices in your pantry. It’s good with a lemony dahl, and some paratha.  FUN FACT: Aubergines contain 0.01mg of nicotine (per 100g), more than any other edible plant. God bless the aubergine. Serves 3-4 Ingredients: 2 large or 3 small aubergines Nigella and mustard seeds, a tbsp 6 curry leaves 2 skinny green chillies 2 tbsp white wine vinegar 2 tbsp tamarind pulp, soaked in 1 cup boiling water 1 tbsp brown sugar/palm sugar 1 tsp coriander powder 2 tsp turmeric powder 2 big red onions, or 4 banana shallots, cut into segments Canola/vegetable oil Method: Cut the aubergines into one inch pieces, and toss them in a few pinches of salt and the turmeric. Heat up your oil in a frying pan, and deep fry the aubergine in batches. Put aside on kitchen roll as you go. When all are fried, put a tablespoon of oil in a large heavy-set frying pan or pot on a medium-high heat, and add your nigella and mustard seeds. When they start to pop, add the segments of onion. They will seem like huge chunks, but as they start to cook the layers will separate. While your onions are cooking (this will take around 10 minutes), thinly slice your chillies, and chop up the softened tamarind pulp in the cup of water with scissors so that there are no lumps. (You can use watered-down tamarind paste instead of pulp, if you prefer). When your onions or shallots are soft, add the chillies, and cook for a minute or so. Then add the tamarind water, vinegar, ground coriander, sugar, and curry leaves and let it simmer away for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Now add your aubergines, and let the dish cook for a further 2 or 3 minutes, so that everything comes together to create a not-quite-saucy/not-quite-dry, silky curry. Taste, and season with a little salt if necessary.    Serve.

[whatsthatyourecookingthea]

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Sardine Pasta We have been eating this dinner almost fortnightly for the last couple of years. I hope it doesn’t upset too many Sicilians, because it is a bastardised version of a few different Pasta con le Sarde recipes. It is our favourite pasta dish (and we eat a lot of pasta), chiefly because it has the four key elements of taste: sweet, sour, salty and spicy. It is also very economical to make, and being a cheapskate, this pleases me. I haven’t done a breakdown of costs or anything, but I reckon it comes in at under £1.50 a person ($3 AUD). That’s cheap, right? Hope you like this recipe, folks. Come back soon for round two. Serves 3-4 Ingredients:

Olive oil 1 large, or 2 small brown onions 1 tbsp fennel seeds A good pinch dried chilli flakes, or 1 fresh red chilli 3-4 anchovies, chopped 2 tins plum tomatoes White wine vinegar, a good glug (2 tbsp?) 1 small bunch parsley 1 tin of sardines in olive oil  40g pine nuts 40g sultanas Pinch dried oregano/dried fennel Salt and pepper Zest of a lemon Pasta (any will do, but I go linguine, roughly 100g per person) Method: 

Slice your onions into rings, not too thick. Put a large frying pan/heavy bottomed saucepan on a medium heat, and add a generous amount of olive oil. When the oil has heated up, add your chilli, anchovies, fennel seeds, and the chopped stalks from your bunch of parsley, and give them a minute or so to flavour the oil. Then add your onions, and allow them to slowly soften for 10-15 minutes, or until transluscent, stirring regularly. This is the most important part of the recipe, as it is the base of the sauce - you want them almost silky. When the onions are fully soft, add your tins of tomatoes followed by your white wine vinegar. Chop the tomatoes up with your spatula/utensil, then add the lemon zest, and the sultanas and cook for another 5 minutes (this allows them to plump up a little in the sauce). Season the sauce with salt, pepper, and some dried herbs - I use fennel and oregano. You can cook your pasta now. Add the sardines and their oil. If you are feeling flush you could add two tins of sardines (recommended if feeding 4). While your sauce is simmering away, you can toast your pine nuts on a medium heat in a small frying pan. Watch them very carefully, because they burn in no time. 

Lastly, add the pine nuts and chopped parsley, and toss the sauce with the drained pasta, ensuring it is evenly coated. Reserving a spoonful of pasta water is always good if your sauce has reduced significantly. Serve.